Of Memory and Men
by AliJade
Summary: After being attacked by a deatheater Hermione loses her memory. What will happen when Draco Malfoy convinces her that she is his girlfriend? What will Harry do to win the love of his life back? How will this affect the impending war? Who will she choose?
1. Chapter 1

Hello, all! This is my first fic. I've been considering posting it for a while; so let me know what you think. I really want to get better so I am open to any ideas.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters. They belong to JK Rowling.

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Harry rubbed his eyes tiredly and ran a hand roughly through his hair. He walked down the corridor that led to the courtyard, in search of Ron. Harry assumed this was the way he had run off, seeing as it was the only shortcut to the Great Hall. He knew all too well that Ron was upset about being late for lunch.

For the second time in a week Flitwick made the class stay an extra twenty minutes to try to explain how the Cheering Charm was correctly performed, which instead of improving Harry's mood only further agitated him.

Harry's emotions and nerves had been set on edge for nearly a fortnight. He couldn't sleep, and unlike Ron, he couldn't eat. Any moment where he was free of classes, though his mind often drifted during those, he was focused on the image of Hermione lying motionless, barely breathing, in the hospital wing.

_Flashback_

On one of her patrols through the third floor corridor, completing her nightly duties as prefect, Hermione came across Nearly Headless Nick. As she stopped to say hello to him, she heard rushing footsteps coming form the adjacent corridor. Thinking it was a student out of bed, Hermione waited patiently, prepared to dock points for wondering the halls after hours. Instead of seeing a student, she saw the long white-blonde hair of none other than Lucius Malfoy.

His movements ceased as their eyes locked, and she saw him mouth the word "Mudblood," with a look of disgust flowing freely across his face.

Hermione demanded his reasoning for being there, but before she could draw out her wand she heard two horrible words slip from his lips: "Avada Kedavra!"

Hermione's scream was stifled as a green light hit her square in the face; falling to the floor instantaneously. At that moment Lucius ran for the secret passageway to Honeydukes and ducked inside.

_End Flashback_

Harry could never thank Sir Nicholas enough for being there at the moment of this encounter. Just like with the basilisk, four years earlier, the deadly effect of the curse did not do what it was supposed to.

Because the spell had been sent directly at Hermione, who had been separated from Lucius by the ghostly body of Nearly Headless Nick, the effects were not as dire.

On contact Hermione did crumple to the floor, in a lifeless state, but her breathing continued, even if only shallowly.

Shaking his head, to clear the thoughts from his mind, Harry looked up from the floor as he reached an archway that led outside.

His eyes met hers as he walked out into the sunny courtyard. His breath caught in his throat as he tried to form words.

Her eyebrows creased under his gaze, and a confused frown spread across her soft lips.

Her chocolate-brown eyes left his and refocused on those of a blonde-haired Slytherin, standing too closely (in Harry's opinion) before her, his hips wresting snugly between her dangling legs.

A lump caught in his throat as Harry stared at his best friend perched on top of tall concrete planter. Draco Malfoy stood in front of her, his back turned to the raven-haired boy, completely oblivious to anyone's presence but the woman in front of him and his friends surrounding them.

" 'Mione.." Harry's voice caught in his throat as he tried to call out to regain her attention.

She had been in the hospital wing for weeks now, and he had assumed that someone would notify him if there were any changes in her state. He hadn't been able to go the hospital wing for the last two days, because Dumbledore had required his help on some research, but he assumed since no one had said anything that there had been no change.

_What was she doing surrounding herself with a group of Slytherins? Why didn't she come to find me when I failed to be there when she woke?_

Harry's questions screamed inside his head, but he could barely manage saying her name out loud, let alone asking her the fifty different questions flowing through his mind.

Hermione looked up, again, in confusion at the emerald-eyed boy, and then looked at Draco quizzically. Draco turned and stood smirking at the boy, the reason unknown to Hermione. "Drake… Who is that?"

Harry's pupils grew to only leave the slightest ring of emerald, as he glared at Draco with more hatred than if he were Voldemort himself, and sent an incredibly confused look in Hermione's direction.

Harry took a few steps forward, still a couple of steps away from her, reaching towards Hermione as if she weren't quite real; stretching his fingers towards her as if he imagined they would just slide through her like a ghost.

The smirk never left Draco's face while looking at Harry, but he put on a scowl as he turned to Hermione.

"That's Potter. Remember what you had written in your diary? The one I gave back to you when you woke up in the hospital wing?" Hermione nodded and a look of disgust and distrust washed over her.

A growl erupted from Harry's throat, almost that of an animal. Draco took a few steps from Hermione and the smirk returned to his face as he spoke to Harry in a mocking tone, soft enough to go unheard by Hermione.

"You were dumb to leave her alone, boy wonder. She lost all of her memories when she was attacked."

A breath caught in Harry's throat for at least the tenth time in those few minutes, and he sent Hermione a pained look. Harry looked back at Draco, his anger returning full force.

"What did you do to her? Why is she calling you 'Drake'? Why does she not remember who I am but knows you? Why is she looking at me like that?" Draco's smirk widened.

"Well, you see, Potter, unlike you, I was actually there when Granger woke up. I filled in a few of the blanks by giving her back her diary."

Harry stared at Draco, and then spoke through clenched teeth. "Her diary…?" Harry's forehead scrunched in confusion and his eyes narrowed in anger. "Hermione detests diaries, Malfoy. Has ever since second year. What are you playing at?"

"You'll know soon enough." Draco said, smirking once more.


	2. Chapter 2

So, here's chapter two. I wanted to go ahead an put it out there. I know my chapters are short. Anyways, enjoy! Let me know what you guys think.

-A-

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If looks could kill, then Draco would already be six feet under. Harry tried to close the last few steps between himself and Hermione, but Draco and the entire group of Slytherins wouldn't allow it.

Draco's smirk faltered and he turned toward Hermione, "Love, why don't you go with Pansy, while I have a conversation with Potter, here."

Hermione, looking immensely confused, her eyes shifting between the infuriated Harry and the slightly defensive Draco, and hopped off of the concrete planter. "Alright."

Draco squeezed Hermione's hand softly before Pansy linked arms with her and walked off towards the Great Hall, talking quietly with her newfound friend.

Harry's eyes reluctantly left the retreating back of Hermione, and the hatred that had early consumed his face, returned.

"What are you playing at, Malfoy?" Harry, again, forced through clenched teeth.

"What ever do you mean, Potter?" Draco said in mock confusion.

"Why in the world would _you_ want _Hermione_ to think she was yours_?_"

"Well, there are quite a few benefits. For one, I get to see you suffer." Draco paused for a second and then added, "That actually could be enough in itself!" Draco chuckled menacingly, and his friends followed suit.

By this time Harry had pulled out his wand, and touched it to Draco's throat, having closed the few steps that had separated them.

"Ah ah ah, Potter," Draco said softly, absolutely no fear could be traced in his voice. "You won't want to do anything to hurt me."

Harry scoffed. "And why not? I can see plenty of reasons why I want to hurt you."

"But not at the risk of angering our dearest Granger. As of right now, I have successfully convinced her that she has been dating me since third year, and that her dearest friends are in this group, right here. I have also managed to convince her that you are the one that has been treating her like the mudblood she is for all of these years. Anything you do to hurt me will only hurt her in the process. And we wouldn't want that, now would we?"

When the other Slytherins realized that Harry wasn't backing down at Draco's threat, they all turned their wands on him, but faltered slightly when they heard a commotion coming from the direction where the two girls had previously disappeared.

Quite a few voices were yelling Harry's name, desperately trying to find him. The first to be seen was Ron, followed by Ginny and Neville, and being trailed by a few other Gryffindors.

Ron, being oblivious to the duel that was moments before sure to ensue, ran up to Harry, panting.

"Mate! It's 'Mione! She's awake, and she… She's with Parkins-" Ron cut off as he finally saw Harry's hand closed tightly around the collar of Draco's shirt and his wand trained on Draco's throat, along with another dozen wands pointed directly at Harry.

Draco took this moment of confusion to free himself from Harry's grasp and back away, putting a few feet of distance between the two.

Harry looked at Ron with uneasiness and spoke through clenched teeth, "I know. Our wonderful friend, Draco, was there when she woke up. Apparently she lost a lot of memories… And her new boyfriend, here, filled her in." Harry waved his hand towards Draco, to identify who he was speaking about.

"Boyfriend?" Ron mumbled before the realization of Harry's statement hit him. He lunged towards Draco, but Harry gripped him by his arm, as a dozen wands pointed directly at Ron.

Draco smirked again, "Come on guys. I think I am done with this conversation. I'm sure 'Mione is missing me. " Draco's cronies laughed as they all turned and headed off toward the Great Hall.

Harry, Ron, and the rest of the Gryffindor's stared after them in disbelief as the conversation sank in.

Ginny was the first to break the silence. "Harry, how did this happen?"

Harry began to explain about Draco being there when Hermione woke up, about the diary that he invented, and all of the other lies that Hermione believed to be true.

"But why would he want her to think she was his girlfriend? There has to be a reason behind it..." Neville blurted out, looking around the group for some type of answer.

"Think about it…" Ron began speaking through clenched teeth, surprising everyone with his sudden incite on a conversation that had to do with more than food or quidditch.

"Hermione is the smartest witch of our year, if not the smartest person to ever walk the halls of Hogwarts. If we were in his place, wouldn't we want to do the same? He just manipulated her into thinking she was in love with him. Which means that he might have just managed to turn her to their side of the war…"

Dean spoke up this time, "So... Basically, we are screwed."

Harry's eyes had been glazed over in thought since Draco left. They cleared and a look of determination spread over his features. "No, we aren't."

Everyone turned his or her attention to Harry.

"She is still our Hermione. Just because Malfoy changed her idea about some facts doesn't mean he made her a different person. We will win her back."

Ron didn't look convinced as he said, "And how do you propose we do that? He's already fed her all of these lies. She probably won't want to be anywhere near us!"

"Don't you remember first year?" Seamus asked in a contemplative voice. "We treated her horribly in the beginning but that didn't stop her from wanting to be friends with us."

Harry nodded in agreement. "And this time we are the ones trying to win her over. We just have to make the effort and in the meantime pray that her memories come back."

Ginny placed a hand on Harry's clenched fist that rested at his side, and smiled a reassuring smile. "You're right, Harry. We'll get 'Mione back."


	3. Chapter 3

Hello, all! I hope you've enjoyed this so far. Please let me know what you all think of the story so far. If there is anything to improve on let me know!

-A-

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Harry's anger about the situation grew throughout the day, because Tuesday's were the days where Gryffindors and Slytherins had all their classes together, and it just so happened that today was Tuesday.

Harry sat reluctantly beside Ron, not that he didn't enjoy his best mate's company, but because his spot next to Hermione had been commandeered by Draco.

Harry couldn't focus at all on his potion with Hermione sitting only a few feet away. Luckily, he and Ron had the Half-Blood Prince's potions book to help them complete their work.

Harry's eyes never left Hermione and Draco, and what seemed to be a permanent scowl resided over his features.

While waiting for their potion to heat the required thirty minutes, Draco turned towards Hermione and tucked a hair behind her ear which had fallen across her face as she studied the potions book, double checking that they had done everything correctly.

Harry's anger grew as he saw Draco flirting with her, but it softened as he looked at Hermione's expression, as she studied the book.

_Some things never change, do they, 'Mione?_ Harry thought as he watched her.

Ron followed Harry's gaze and nudged him. "So she forgets all of us but she remembers everything she's learned in school. How Hermione…" Ron snorted quietly and turned his saddened gaze back to the potion.

After their potions had been bottled and their cauldrons had been wiped of the remnants of the potion, Slughorn dismissed the class. Everyone began filing out until only a few remained.

Hermione looked up after picking up her bag, and her eyes met Harry's for the hundredth time that day.

Harry's eyes, which had held tension for the entire day, relaxed immediately at the sight of hers. He glanced around the room quickly noting that Draco was nowhere to be seen.

Harry moved forward, towards her, wanting to take this moment of recognition to speak with her. "Hermione, can I please talk to you?" Harry said in a pleading voice.

Harry grabbed her hand gently, pulling it towards his lips, kissing it softly. _Please… 'Mione... Please remember me._ Harry thought.

Hermione stared at Harry, utterly confused at how to respond and blushing furiously when his lips touched her hand, which sent electric shocks up her arm.

Momentarily forgetting everything that Draco had been telling her about Harry, and the things that she had written in the diary, she let a shy smile cross her lips and murmured, "Sure."

A look of relief shed a new light on Harry's face as he heard her response. No sooner had a smile slipped across his features did it disappear when a strong hand on his shoulder ripped him away, breaking the contact between him and Hermione.

"Potter!" Draco growled, assuming the role of protective boyfriend. "Do NOT touch my girlfriend."

Hermione blinked her eyes furiously trying to rid herself of the sense of déjà vu that Harry kissing her hand had caused. _I'm supposed to hate him. He has never been anything but rude to me. I think…_

Harry was already turning towards Draco, ready to punch, when Hermione spoke up. "Potter! Stop it this instance!"

Both sets of eyes fell on her, and Harry stared at her completely shocked. Draco had started this, but she was still siding with him. Harry groaned inwardly and dropped his hand.

_I have to get her alone... If I don't convince her soon that Draco is using her, I might never get the chance again… all of this is too new to her. She may still be my Hermione now, but in a few days time, with that scum, she will be acting no different than Parkinson._

Harry's eyes flitted quickly over to Pansy being snogged by Blaise Zabini, against the wall of the almost empty potions room. A shudder of disgust rolled over Harry, and when he looked back at Hermione, she was already retreating out of the classroom with Draco.

Harry grabbed his bag and headed down to the Great Hall for dinner.

When Harry walked into the Great Hall, his eyes fell quickly on Ron, who was being restrained by Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan.

Ron was growling in anger at the boys holding him back and the sight before his eyes. About twenty feet across the room, Hermione sat at the Slytherin table, cheeks blushing crimson as Draco whispered things in her ear, kissing her neck a few times.

Draco pulled away momentarily to survey the commotion, and smirked at the group of Gryffindors. He then proceeded to give a small wave like salute and wink at Ron.

That was it. That was all Ron could handle as he threw himself out of the arms of the two boys and ran full force at the table.

Harry, who had been transfixed on Hermione, snapped out of his stupor and darted in front of the fiery redhead. "Ron! Stop. This isn't the way to get her back!"

Ron's eyes hardened and sighed angrily, nodding curtly at Harry. Harry ushered Ron over to the Gryffindor table, trying to make him forget what they had just seen.

Dinner seemed to go by quickly, with no more incidents. That was until Draco and Hermione got up to leave the Great Hall, and wolf whistles could be heard all over the Great Hall. Harry turned to see what everyone was whistling about, and saw Draco's hand wresting firmly on Hermione's butt.

Harry's hands began to visibly shake, but he did not draw Ron's attention to the couple, in hopes of letting it pass… for the time being.

Ginny glanced at the dejected faces of the boys sitting around her. "You all seem like you have just given up. We've known about Hermione for less than a day and you all think you have already exhausted every option." Ginny glared at her friends.

"She is still a Gryffindor. We may not get a chance to speak to her when that group of scum surrounds her, but we will still try to do everything we can. And, eventually she will have to go back to the tower. And when she does, we will get our chance… She is still Hermione… just a slightly confused one…"


	4. Chapter 4

**Here's chapter four. I hope you are all enjoying this so far. Let me know what you think.**

-A-

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Ginny, Neville, and Dean sat on the floor playing exploding snap, as they waited for Hermione to return, while Harry and Ron sat stiffly on the couch beside the fireplace.

Neither of the two boys let their eyes stray from the portrait hole. Harry repeatedly ran his hand through his already disheveled hair, as Ron sat with both fists clenched on his lap.

Every time the portrait hole opened, the two boys shot from their seats on the couch, only to turn and walk sullenly back and resume their waiting positions.

Each tick of the clock caused the boys to tense more and more until they looked as stiff as statues.

Two minutes until curfew, the portrait hole opened to reveal Hermione. She let her gaze shift around the mostly empty common room, until it fell on the two boys standing before her.

Hermione stiffened as Ron engulfed her in a hug. For a moment she stood there shocked by the unexpected embrace. Once she assessed what was happening she snapped, "Oy! Weasley. Get off me!"

Ron dropped his arms immediately after hearing the cold response, and backed away.

Harry put a hand on Ron's shoulder as he turned his gaze on Hermione. " 'Mione… We need to talk to you about something…"

Hermione raised an eyebrow at how he said her name and placed her left hand firmly on her hip. "I do not wish to speak to you…and why do you keep calling me _'Mione_? We have barely talked to each other since third year. When I started dating Draco you made it quite clear that you wanted nothing to do with me."

Harry and Ron exchanged confused glances, and Harry pressed his fingers to his temples. "Hermione… do you remember any of this ever actually happening?"

Hermione looked from Harry to Ron, "Well, not firsthand, but it is all written in my diary, in my handwriting. Eventually it will all come back to me."

"It was all in your diary… which would probably be in your room, wouldn't it? Not in the hands of that stupid little pra-…"

"Hey! That 'stupid little prat' is my boyfriend, so you best watch what you say about him, Weasel!" Hermione said, fuming. She then turned on her heal and stormed up the steps to her dormitory, leaving the boys behind her with unanswered questions.

Harry smacked the back of Ron's head and glared at him, "Nice going, you dolt."

Hermione threw herself angrily onto her four-poster, willing herself to block out the conversation she had just had. _Ugh. I wish Potter and Weasley would leave me alone… Draco warned me that they would try to take advantage of me; try to make me believe that they were really my friends instead of him and the Slytherins… but I didn't think they would start so suddenly. _

Hermione laid there frustrated with her memory loss until her thoughts lulled her to sleep, while two boys sat fuming in the common room.

"What are we going to do, Harry?" Ron moans from his spot on the floor, in front of the fireplace.

Harry rubbed his eyes as he leaned back into the couch. "We are never going to be able to convince her that Draco is lying to her, unless she feels that she can trust us… So, I guess that is our first step. Show Hermione how much she means to us, before we bring anything up again."

Ron mumbled something about going up to bed, and Harry shifted to lie on the couch, his legs stretched across the length of the couch, staring at the fire.

Herione woke with a start, and squinted at the grandfather clock standing across the room as her eyes adjusted to the soft light of the moon coming in through the window. _3:27_

Hermione pulled the covers off of her and swung her legs over the side of the bed, quietly making her way out the door to the staircase, in search of a glass of water.

Hermione entered the common room, and found a pitcher sitting on the table nearest the fireplace. After pouring a glass, she jumped with a start when she heard a voice mumbling behind her.

Hermione put the glass down and turned around slowly, seeing the figure of someone lying on a couch. She walked over to the couch to see Harry asleep.

Hermione turned to walk away, when the sound of her name caught her off guard. " 'Mione…" Harry mumbled softly in his sleep.

Hermione's eyes grew large, and she quickly walked away from the couch and back up the stairs to her bed, not knowing how to handle her worst enemy saying her name so gently in his sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Hey y'all. I've been trying to get back into the swing of things at school, so that's why it has been a while since I've posted. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

-A-

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Hermione woke early the next morning wanting to get to the Great Hall for breakfast before the lot of Gryffindors did.

As Hermione took the last step off the girls' staircase she heard a pitiful groan from across the room. She surveyed the rest of the common room, noting that it was empty, and made her way back over to the couch that Harry had been asleep on earlier that morning.

Hermione walked around the couch and looked down at Harry's face, which was scrunched in pain. For some reason, unbeknownst to Hermione, she reached down to pluck the glasses off his face.

After placing them carefully on the table next to him she turned to leave but was stopped by a gentle hand holding hers. Hermione's eyes shot to her hand and then up to Harry's face. He was staring at her intently, well… as intently as he could without his glasses.

"Hermione, wait." Harry said softly, hoping to not scare her away.

Hermione's heart fluttered a little at the sound of her name but shook her head, confused at why this was happening. "Let go of me, Potter." Hermione quickly schooled her features into an indifferent mask and pulled her hand away, leaving the common room as fast as her petite legs would take her.

Harry sighed in frustration and rubbed his tired eyes. He sat up after he heard the portrait slam shut, cracking the soreness from his back.

Hermione walked into the Great Hall to see only a few students scattered around, being too early for most student's liking. Hermione sat at the deserted Gryffindor table thankful for the time by herself.

She hadn't really had any time to herself, and she knew that she needed to start thinking about the predicament she was in.

She was scared and sad. Those were the two feelings that were ever present as of recently. She was scared because it was hard living without about six years of memories.

She remembered pretty much everything up until Hogwarts, and she remembered everything she had learned while she was there. It was just the people and memories of her time there that she couldn't quite grasp.

Every time she tried she would get a searing migraine and would give up almost immediately. From what she had researched, since she had awoken in the hospital wing, was that it was not healthy to force the memories back. She knew that familiar things and familiar people would trigger the memories, so she just needed to continue to surround herself with them.

Soon other students began spilling into the Great Hall, as it got closer to time for classes. A cool hand traced the curve of her neck as it brushed her hair to the other side.

Hermione turned slightly in her seat to see the person who the hand belonged to and smiled up at him. Draco stood behind her quietly waiting to escort her to the Slytherin table.

"M'lady," Draco said.

Hermione got to her feet and took the offered arm, which she wrapped her hand around. Draco's muscle tightened under her grasp and he smirked down at her.

As they sat down at the Slytherin table, joining Draco's group of friends, Hermione let her mind wander over the past few days since she had woken up.

_Flashback_

Hermione blinked her eyes slowly trying to get the fuzziness to fade away from her sight. Once it was gone she could see from the ceiling above her that she was in the hospital wing.

Confused, she glanced around at her surroundings to find a boy that looked to be about her age slouched in an uncomfortable looking chair next to her bed.

His platinum blond hair looked disheveled from sleep and running his hands through it a lot, and his clothes looked crumpled like he had been sleeping in them for quite a while. He was very tall and she couldn't be positive, since he was sitting down, but he looked to be over six feet tall. His body looked hard, like it was sculpted from stone, and he had a pale complexion but it worked well with his blond hair and angular features.

The most intriguing, though, were the metallic silver eyes staring back at her when her gaze moved back to his face.

Hermione jumped slightly when she realized the boy was staring at her and squeaked softly. He chuckled a little at that.

"Hello love, I'm so glad to see you're awake." Draco said smoothly, running the back of his hand gently along the line of her cheek.

"Who… who are you?" Hermione asked in confusion, wondering why this boy knew her but she didn't know him.

Draco's face held a convincing fake concern as he called Madam Pomphrey frantically into the room.

Madam Pomphrey rushed into the room at the call of her name and looked surprised to see Draco Malfoy sitting beside Hermione Granger's bed. She shook the confusion out of her thoughts as she saw Hermione was awake.

After Madam Pomphrey realized that Hermione was missing quite a few memories she decided that she needed to call in a specialist from St. Mungos, and shooed Draco out of the infirmary.

Hermione looked slightly panicked as the only person that she had ever remembered talking to in this place was now the blond haired boy and he was being forced to leave. Before Madam Pomphrey could slam the door shut Draco shouted, "I'll come back soon, love!"

_End Flashback_

Hermione smiled slightly at that memory and connected eyes with Draco, thankful that she had woken up into this scary new world of hers with someone who obviously cared for her and someone who she felt that she could trust.


End file.
